Clarendon win Border Coastal hockey challenge

Hockey: School Hockey

Clarendon High became the third school to qualify for the SPAR Eastern Cape Schoolgirls Hockey Challenge provincial finals when they won the Border Coastal tournament in East London on Sunday. Played in fine weather at Cambridge, the Clarendon girls took the honours by defeating Stirling 2-0 in the final, reversing a defeat they had suffered to the same opponents in the pool phase. Defending champions Hudson Park were undone by Clarendon 3-0 in the semifinals, while Stirling beat hosts Cambridge 2-0 in the other play-off.

Tournament director Bev Forword said it was another excellent day of schoolgirls’ hockey, with the teams producing some exciting play throughout the competition. “The final between Clarendon and Stirling was always set to be a humdinger after their closely contested pool match,” said Forword. “In that game, Stirling scored a goal against the run of play to push Clarendon to second in their pool.”

She added that Clarendon had then produced their best performance of the day to be crowned the Border Coastal champions. Spar Eastern Cape promotions and advertising manager Alan Stapleton was delighted with the success of another high quality tournament.

“It was great to see all the teams giving it their all, enjoying the fun aspect of the day, but also showing their competitiveness on the field of play,” he said. “Kudos must go to Clarendon for the way they fought back after losing to Stirling in the pool matches.

“We welcomed two new teams to the event this year in Grens and Alphendale and it’s encouraging to see the growth of the concept.” The outcome means Clarendon will represent the region in the provincial finals which will be played at Woodridge, just outside Port Elizabeth, on August 12.

They have become the third team to qualify for the finals, joining Union High, who won the Port Elizabeth Inland tournament, and Kingsridge, who were crowned Border Inland champions last Sunday. The final two teams for the provincial finals will be decided over the next two weeks when the South Western Districts tournament takes place in George on Saturday and the PE Coastal competition is held at Pearson on June 4.